The hostage drama dominated Italian television on Wednesday evening, as it brought together some of the men's relatives and Mr Frattini.

At one point a relative turned to Mr Frattini and asked "What can we do about this?" - and there was nothing he could say, our correspondent reports.

Al-Jazeera apologised for not broadcasting the Italian's killing. An official for the TV told Italian television that Mr Quattrocchi had been shot in the back of the neck with a pistol.

The TV also said it had received a statement from the kidnappers, a group calling itself al-Katibat al-Khadra or the Green Battalion, in which it demanded the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq, the release of clerics held by Italian forces and an apology from Mr Berlusconi for allegedly insulting Islam.

They also threatened to kill the other three hostages "one by one".

Italian forces - the third largest contingent in the US-led coalition - are based in the southern city of Nasiriya, working on reconstruction.

Italy did not send combat troops during the war.

Last November a suicide truck bomb attack in Nasiriya killed 19 Italians - the country's worst single military loss since World War II.